Hamzah's First Day |
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Contents |
Why the Worms Live Beneath the Ground
 "Hamzi! We're leaving," called
Hamzah's mother. "Bye, Dad," Hamzah said, as he got up to join his mother and siblings. "Goodbye, Son. Have fun today, but remember to stay close to your mother." "I will," Hamzah yelled as he ran to catch up with his brothers and sisters. Wow, this is so great! There is so much to look at! There are so many new smells! BANG! Hamzah ran into his sister's behind! "Watch where you are going Hamzaaah!" "Oh, sorry," he replied shaking his head to regain his bearings. "I was trying to look at everything at once." Hamzah decided to catch up to his mom so he could be in the front of the pack. "Hi, Mom." "Hello, Hamzi." "Where are we going first?" "First, we are just going to take a tour around the cave. I want you kids to know what this place looks like from all angles. That way, if you get lost, you will recognize it, no matter what direction you are coming from." "Oh," Hamzah said, even though he had stopped listening half-way into his mother's response. "Okay, kids, go run around for a few minutes. I want you to familiarize yourselves with these sights and smells. I'll be sitting right here, so don't go where I can't see you." "Yes, finally! A chance to explore," Hamzah thought to himself. He started to walk towards something interesting. It was some kind of bush. "I wonder what could be hiding in here..." Hamzah was digging in the leaves when he came across something very strange. It looked like someone's tail, but it wasn't attached to anything. Hamzah started to push it around with his paw. "Aaah!" Hamzah jumped back, startled, then looked closer at the strange, screaming tail. "P-P-P-Please don't hurt me! I didn't see you coming!" shouted the tail. "Oh, wow. I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you. I didn't know you were living. What, exactly, are you?" "I-I-I-I'm a w-w-worm," the worm quivered with fear. "Please don't be afraid. I won't hurt you, I promise." "Alright." "Well, where does a worm like you live?" "I live underground." "Underground! Why would you want to live down there?"  "I
don't actually want to live
underground. I live down here because all of us worms have to. A long,
long time ago
all the animals gathered for an annual feast with the king. The ants
were very upset with their place in society. They felt very
unappreciated and they decided to complain about this to the king. The
head ant
explained to the king that ants were the strongest insects around. They
were much stronger than the disgusting, wriggling, worms. The head ant
didn't
like our kind very much. He proceeded to offend all of the worms right
in front of the king! He said we were slimy, squishy beings that didn't
even deserve to be in the kingdom. Finally, we worms couldn't take it anymore and so we complained to the king about the head ant's insults. The king decided the best way to settle the matter was to have both sides meet in a duel. The ants hugely outnumbered the worms. The king gave the signal for the fight to begin, and within seconds each worm was covered in ants. The worms were bitten to pieces by the ants' sharp pincers. The few worms that did survive squirmed away and hid themselves from sight. They were so frightened to be seen that they hid themselves under the ground. They built themselves homes down there so they would never have to come up. Now, whenever the rain does force one of us above ground, he immediately hides himself when anything approaches. We worms are afraid of everyone." "Oh, well that sounds just terrible! Please, worm, don't be afraid of me. I could never harm you." |
Coverpage Introduction Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky Why the Worms Live Beneath the Ground Why the Fish Lives in the Water Why the Bat Flies at Night |
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| Top Image:
Hamzah's mother Image Source: Flickr Bottom Image: Hamzah listening to the worm's story Image Source: Kenya Safari |
Author's Note: My main goal for this
retelling was to convey the fear that the poor worm experiences. This
way there is a bit of foreshadowing for the story he tells to Hamzah. I
wanted the worm's character to match the reason he has to live
underground. Of course, Hamzah feels terrible for the worm. I wanted to
develop this part of Hamzah's character here. He is a kind, and
sympathetic cub. This represents most people in my audience, you guys!
I'm certain most of you also possess these qualities. The plot of this
retelling is pretty close to the original. The original gives a bit
more detail about the king and the dinner. The king's name is Eyo III.
The original explains that it was custom for people to make speeches at
the dinner. By the time the speeches were made, many people had had
quite a lot to drink. The original story says that people drank
something called tombo. Tombo is a palm wine, cutomarily consumed in
Asian and African countries like Nigeria. Bibliography: "Why the Worms Live Underneath the Ground" by Elphinstone Dayrell, from Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria (1910). Web Source: Sacred Texts Archive |